Islamic Jihad Union

The Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) is an Islamist terrorist group formed in 2002 as a splintergroup of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan's Pakistan faction. In 2004 and early 2005, the group launched failed attacks against Uzbekistan, and it became closer to al-Qaeda afterwards, plotting terror attacks against countries such as Pakistan, the nations of Western Europe, and Germany. The group had Western recruits that were trained in Mir Ali in the tribal belt of northwestern Pakistan, where the IJU was based for many years. The IJU waged war against the Pakistani Army in northwestern Pakistan and against NATO and the Afghan National Army in Afghanistan, and its two leaders Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and Najmiddin Jalolov were killed in the Afghanistan War.